Understanding the Boxer Amendment to the Climate Security Act (L-W)

Hi folks - here's the latest:

The Lieberman-Warner bill has been modified to include an Amendment drafted in conjunction by Senator Barbara Boxer. The amendments offers some advantages and some disadvantages to our goal of increasing funding for international adaptation.

Notes on Boxer Substitute Amendment

to the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S. 3036)

Allocation of Allowances

• Approximately 68% of the allowances (1 allowance equals 1 ton of CO₂ equivalent) are auctioned or distributed in 2012 to support a variety of programs (including low-income communities, states, localities and Indian tribes, recognition of early actors, efficiency programs and technologies and renewable energy technology and deployment, low-carbon electricity generation and advanced research, low-carbon coal technologies, low- to zero- emissions transportation technologies, programs that protect wildlife and natural resources in the US from climate impacts, international adaptation funding and international clean energy technology transfer).

• Approximately 32% of the allowances in 2012 are given away for free to fossil-fuel producers and emitters.

OXFAM ACTION CORPS THINKS THAT:
100% of the allowances under a cap-and-trade program should be allocated for public benefit. In accordance with the “polluter pays principle,” no allowances should be given away for free to polluters.

International Adaptation

· The international adaptation provisions were revised from the committee mark of the bill to highlight community engagement and national level consultation; to clarify most vulnerable developing country eligibility; to identify broader national security concerns; and to make it possible for some funding to be channeled through a multilateral fund.

· The funding level is increased substantially over the lifetime of the bill, but cut somewhat below the level in the committee mark for the years 2012-2017.

· The estimated dollar amount generated by the auction of allowances for this purpose falls within a range depending on the average price of greenhouse gas allowances (emission permits): $580 million-$1.1 billion in 2012; $1.4-$2.9 billion in 2020; and $3.7-$7.5 billion in 2030.

OXFAM ACTION CORPS THINKS THAT:

We are pleased with the substantive changes made to the international adaptation program language from the committee mark of the bill. The percentage of adaptation funding should be increased in the early years of the program, 2012-2017, since poor communities are already being impacted by climate-related events. It’s also important to keep in mind the context of an estimated need of more than $80 billion in developing countries to adapt to climate impacts.